Apparatus for processing wool and fibrous material



Feb, 6, 194 5 H. s. DRUM'E-TAL APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING WOOL AND FIBROUS MATERIALS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 17, 1942 HINVENTORS fiJ 7' 7 5. Cg AT T RN Feb.6, 1945. H a DR M Em 2,368,916

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING WOOL AND FIBROUS MA'IERIALS Filed July 17, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Feb. 6, 1945. H. s. DRUM ETAL 1 2,368,916

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING WOOL AND FIBROIiS MATERIALS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fiied July 17, 1942 ENVENTORS Feb. 6, 1945. H. s. DRUM ETAL 2,363,916

- APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING WOOL AND FIBROUS MATERIALS Filed July 17, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I':"" f; x48 HHHHllllll illlIIII I i I i 3-5] F at E5 u 48 H|||||HH I; ii "6/ I l TRN V f" Patented Feb. 6, 1945 APPARATUS FOR PBOCESSIITG WOOL AND FIBROUS Harry 8. Drum, Abington, and Alfred Hopkins, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to Smith, Drum and-Company, Philadel of Pennsylvania phia, Pa, a corporation Application July 17, 1942, Serial No. 451,372;

lcl. 68 18) 8 Claims.

The present invention relates to the treatment of raw wool and more particularly toan apparatus for removing grease, oil, and dirt or other foreign substances from raw wool by use of solvents, and for collecting and separating dirt from the solvent.

In the treatment of raw wool as heretofore carried out it has been the practice to load a batch of wool into a kier for treatment by a suitable solvent, after which the wool is removed for a scouring operation. This latter consists of passing the wool through a series of, wash tanks containing soap and soda ash so that all water soluble material together with dirt and other foreign substances'are worked out of the wool. The solvent treatment not only takes time but since the packedwool functions as a filter mily grease and oil are 'removed, while dirt remains in the wool and has to be extracted by the scouring operation. In packing the wool into the kiers,

kier to receive and pack the wool and also to remove it after the solvent treatment. This is not only a hot, disagreeable task but hazardous while working in the fume-filled kier.

Some of the objects of the present invention are to improve the present apparatus for treating raw wool; to provide an apparatus which eliminates the use of soap and soda ash for the removal of dirt and. other deleterious substances;

it is necessary for laborers t0.be inside of the to provide an apparatus wherein it is possible to remove oil, grease and dirt'simultaneously. from raw wool; to provide an apparatus wherein provision is made for separating and collecting dirt from solvent which has traversed a mat of raw wool; to provide means forextracting and recovering solvent used in the heating of raw wool;

to provide means for causing a mat of raw wool to move in a predetermined path and be subjected to a stream of solvent and to be thereafter subjected to a stream of heated air to extract therefrom contained solvent; toprov'ide improved solinvention; Fig. l-A represents a plan of the other end portion of the apparatus, the same being a lecting tanks the cover bein removed to show the interior construction.

Referring to the drawings one form of the present invention consists of a trough or way ll of generally U-shape in transverse section throughout the major portion of its length and horizontally-mounted upon a skeleton frame H, of structural steel or other suitable material. The

'side walls of the trough II are solid while the bgttom is formed by a grating or reticulated plate I through which raw wool, orother fibrous material, is fed into position for such treatment as will remove grease, oleaginous substances, dirtand other foreign matter as a preliminary to the finishing operations. The length of the trough Ill depends upon the number of processing steps; so.

thatthe complete apparatus consists of a plurality of units, each of which includes a section of the trough l0. In the present instance the apparatus shown by way of example includes several units, A, B, and C, for solvent treating, and several units, D, E, and F, for drying treatment, and to avoid repetition only one unit of each series will be described but like reference numerals applied to like parts inthe other units as deemed necessary.

In order to feed wool into the trough "I, a-

hopper I3 is mounted upon the frame I l and has its discharge in communication with the receiving neck ll, of the trough III, which projects through the end wall' of the casing l5. This casing IS encloses the parts forming the firstunit A of the solvent treating means, and is arranged to be connected to an adjacent unit B so that a series of units can be assembled as required to take care of as many processing steps as may he found necessary. This receiving neck ll of the trough III, while being a continuation of the trough proper, has a solid bottomand a solid top except for the outlet from the hopper l3. One end of the neck H receives a piston I6 while the other end opens directly into the trough Ill. The I neck l4 thereby forms a tubular passage into which the wool is discharged from the hopper [3, where it is met by the piston I B, and is pushed forward through the neck It into the trough I0.

continuation of Fig. 1; Fig. 2 represents a side elevation, partly broken away, of that portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 2-A represents a side elevation of that portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. l-A; Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 4; Fig. 4 represents a section on line 4 -4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 represents 1 a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 6; and Fig. 6 represents a detail in plan of one of the solvent colto the outlet.

This tubular construction of the neck I4 is important'because it causes the wool to be com.- pressed or well packed at the entrance to the trough l0, and in this way seals the inlet so that fumes from the solvent cannot escape. A similar seal is made possible at the discharge endof the trough III, by constructing the protruding end ll of the trough It in the form of a tube tapering Hence as the wool reaches this tubular. portion enough back pressure is developed to cause sufllcient packing of the wool as will seal the outlet against the escape of fumes and processing odors.

The trough It forms an open top conduit' For reciprocating the piston l6, it is formed as an extension part of a carriage l8, supported by wheels 28 respectively riding in pairs upon side rails 2| carried by the fram I Connecting rods 22 attached respectively to opposite sides of the carriage l8 join cranks 23 of shaft 24, which latter is journalled on the frame II and rotated by suitable power transmitting means such as a belt and pulleys from a motor 25'.

In order to cause the wool 26 to travel through the trough lo, a ,plurality of rake tines 21 are attached to a shaft 28 and depend therefrom to terminate in close proximity to the bottom of the trough l0. This shaft 28 extends transversely above the trough l and is journalled for oscillation in ears fixed to and extending from a crossbar 3|, which has its ends respectively fastened to two carrier\ angle plates. 32. Reciprocable drive rods 33 respectively join the plates 32 to the carriage l8, so that movement of the latter causes the proper reciprocating stroke of the plates 32. The plates 32 seat respectively upon stationary rollers 34 which are journalled on ball bearings 35, the latter being supported by and laterally projecting from the frame II. The shaft 28 is provided with stop lugs 36 arranged to engage the bar 3| so that the tines 21 are held rigid on the working stroke but permit the tines 21 to swing forwardly upon the return stroke in order to assume another wool pushing stroke. While the foregoing describes only a single series of tines 21, it is preferable to employ several of these series of tines in each unit, the shafts 28 of which are spaced in parallel and are connected to and operated by the reciprocating frame of which the carrier plates 32 are the main parts. In order that these tine assemblies can be easily reached for adjustment, repair or replacement, the side walls of the casing l are provided with hand holes having removable covers 31 conveniently located for the purpose.

In order to subject the wool to the action of the degreasing solvent, a set of spray nozzles 38 are provided and hang in pairs from a header 40 attached to the top of the casing IS. The lower end of each nozzle 38 carries a stirrup 4| for supporting a V-shaped baffle 42, and the length of the nozzle'40, stirrup 4| and baflle.42, is such that the lower end of the baflie is just above the plane of the bars 3|. It should be noted, however, that transversely adjacent stirrups are angularly disposed with respect to each other and, therefore, the discharged solvent is deflected in different directions from the baflies to ensure a complete spread over the top area of the wool 26. The header 40 is supplied with solvent from a pump having an inlet pipe communicating with a closed top collection tank 46 at a point well above the sediment level. This tank 46 collects the dirt and grease-filled solvent after it has passed through the wool, and for that purpose communicates, by way of a pipe 41, with a return duct 48 to which the drained solvent is directed by an inclined partition 50 extending transversely across the unit below the grating |2 of the trough Ill. The duct 48 also extends across the unit parallel to the lower edge of the partition 50 and is open at its top to receive the flow discharged across the partition. Within the duct 48 there is a filter 5|, preferably of V-section, arranged to intercept the solvent as it leaves the partition 50, and thereby prevent fine woolfibres from being carried into the collecting tank 46. As shown the tank 46 has a bottom formed by walls converging downwardly to an apex in the form of a transverse gutter 52 having a screw conveyor 53 rotatably mounted therein for feeding the returned solvent along the gutter 52 and into a conduit 54; which, as shown, rises vertically and has an angularly disposed discharge pipe 55. In the case of adjacent collecting tanks 46, this pipe 55 leads from'one to another until the end tank 46 is reached and there the pipe 55 discharges into a dirt and solvent receiver 56. From the receiver 56 a discharge pipe 51 leads to a pump 58 which serves to deliver the solvent and dirt to a suitable-recovery system. It should be noted that the pipe 41 from the duct 48 enters'the tank 46'near the discharge end of the gutter 52. a partition 6| rises vertically above the conveyor Also,

53 to divide the tank 46 longitudinally for the major portion of its length.

' For the purpose of extracting residual solvent from the wool following its travel through the several solvent units, the trough ID, with its tines and reciprocating carrier, enters and passes through a chamber 62 formed by an enclosing casing 63. Within this chamber 62 are the pluralit of heater units D, Eand F, each of which consists of a coil of heater pipes 64 contained in 4 a compartment 65 having an inlet 66 and an outlet 61, the former communicating with an air supply duct 68 and the latter opening in juxtaposed relation to the upper surface of the wool in the trough Ill. The duct 68 communicates with the discharge of a blower In which draws in air from the chamber 62, and thus establishes a circulation through the heater coils, the wool, the chamber 62, the blower 10, and the duct 68. Since thisair becomes saturated with solvent extracted from the wool, it is desirable to provide a condenser 1| through which the air from the chamber 62 can be circulated. For this purpose the duct 68 of unit D has a by-pass 12 leading to'the condenser H and controlled by a gate 13 which can be adjusted at will to meet conditions of saturation. Also, the condenser 1| communicates by a conduit 14 with this end unit F in order to circulate solvent-filled air from that end of the chamber 62 into the condenser H, where all condensed solvent is collected ready to be drawn off and reclaimed.

In the operation of the apparatus raw W001 is discharged from the 'h0pper l3 and. enters the inlet neck l4 where the reciprocating piston |6 pushes it-into the trough II! where the feed tines 21 of unit'Aare operative to pass the wool along the trough. Thus a mat of wool is formed which is caused to travel the length of the trough to leave the discharge end cleaned of oil, grease and tinuously supplied with wool from the hopper so that, in effect, itis a continuous mat'throughout the length of the apparatus. As the wool mat passes through the casings l5, itis successively subjected to a solvent spray from the.noz-

zles 38,'and this solvent flushes through the mat to discharge through the grating plate |2 into the collecting tank 46. The solvent maybe any one of many well known for the purpose, such as carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, or any.

- other non-inflammable mixture. The major portion of the dirt is removed while passing through the unit A, and there is less and less in the succeeding units, until practically a clean wool leaves the last of the solvent treating units. The mat now passes through the series of heating units D, E and F, where heated air traverses the mat to pick upsolvent vapor and thereby leave the wool substantially free from residual solvent. This vapor-filled air is circulated to a condenser II for reclaiming the solvent in liquid form.

While in the foregoing it may appear that all oil and grease has been removed from the wool, such complete removal is not desired because enough oil should be left in the wool to prevent the fibres from becoming brittle. Where all the grease is extracted by the present process it then becomes necessary to add an amount of oil to the wool in the correct percentage to condition the wool for finishing. To take care of this situation, it is contemplated to employ a measuring device to control the percentage of grease as the wool leaves the apparatus. acter are available inthe market and function to automatically maintain the desired percentage of grease or oil in the wool.

Further, it should be noted that the flow of used solvent is counter to the direction of travel of the material so that the collecting tank 46 at the discharge end of the solvent treatment receives the cleanest solvent, and from which the solvent fiow progressively increases in the percentage of contained grease and dirt until the last tank of the series is reached. It should also be noted that while the construction shown includes a trough having a perforate bottom, the invention is not limited to such precise construc tion and any suitable support of a pervious character can be used for the wool. The term pervious meaning such a construction as will permit solvent to pass therethrough with contained dirt but prevent the passage of wool fibres.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. An apparatus for treating raw wool, comprising a chamber, a support passing through said chamber and projecting from said chamber to form an inlet passage for loose wool fibres, that portion of said support within said chamber having a perforate bottom, ahopper for delivering said fibres to said inlet, means operating in said passage to compress said fibres to seal said inlet against fumes escaping from said chamber, means to feed said fibres along said support in the formof a mat, and means above said support to deliver a solvent for passage through said mat and perforate bottom to flush oleaginous substances and dirt from said mat.

2. An apparatus for treating raw wool, com- 1 prising a chamber, a support passing through said chamber, an inlet passage for loose wool fibres leading to said support, .said support having a perforate bottom, a hopper for delivering said fibres to said inlet, means operating in said passage to compress said fibres to seal said inlet against .fumes escaping from said chamber, means to feed said fibres along said support in the form of a mat, means above said support to deliver a solvent for passage through said mat and perforate bottom to flush oleaginous substances and dirt from said mat, and means below said perforate support for collecting dirt flushed from said mat.

3. An apparatus for treating raw Wool comprising a chamber, a support passing through said chamber and having a perforate bottom, a hopper for raw wool, means for feeding said wool from said hopper into said support, means in- Devices of this chareluding a reciprocable plunger and a plurality of reciprocable tines for feeding said wool along said'support in the form of a mat, said plunger functioning to compress and move said wool into position for engagement by said tines, and means above said support to deliver a solvent for pas-, sage through said mat and perforate bottom to flush oleaginous substances and dirt from said mat.

4. An apparatus for treating raw wool, comprising a chamber, a support passing through said chamber and having a perforate bottom, a hopper for raw wool having a bottom discharge outlet, means movable transversely of said outlet for feeding wool from said hopper onto said sup port, means for keeping said wool moving on said support and preventing packing under the action of said feeding means, and means in said chamber to deliver a solvent for passage through said wool and perforate bottom to flush oleaginous substances and dirt from said wool.

5. An apparatus for treating raw wool, comprising a treating chamber, means to feed raw wool in mat form through said chamber, spray means to subject the wool successively to streams of solvent as the wool passes through said chamher, a plurality of solvent collecting chambers below said wool into which used solvent is discharged, said collecting chambers being successively at lower levels in the direction of the inlet end of said chamber, over-flow pipes from each collecting chamber to the next adjacent, and means in each collecting chamber to feed collected dirt-impregnated solvent to the next adjacent collecting chamber.

,6. An apparatus for treating raw wool, comprising a chamber, a support passing through said chamber, an inlet passage for loose wool fibres leading to said support, said support having a perforate bottom, means to deliver said fibres to said passage means operating in said passage to compress said fibres to seal'said inlet against fumes escaping from said chamber, means synchronized with said compressing means. to feed said fibres along said support in the form of a mat, means above said support to deliver a solvent for passage through said mat and perforate bottom to flush oleaginous substances and dirt from said mat, and means below said perforate support for collecting dirt flushed from said mat.

'7. An apparatus for treating raw wool, comprising a treating chamber having an inlet and an outlet, a hopper for delivering raw Wool to said inlet, a reciprocable plunger, means for operating said plunger to deliver wool from said hopper to said inlet, means operating upon said wool between said inlet and said outlet to prevent packing of said Wool and thereby maintain a substantially uniform thickness of the wool mat as propelled by said plunger, and solvent discharging sprays above said mat.

8. An apparatus for treating raw wool comprising a treating chamber having an inlet and an outlet, a hopper for delivering raw wool to said inlet, a reciprocable plunger, a plurality of rake tines mounted between said inlet and outlet, solvent discharging sprays above said trough and the wool thereon, and means for simultaneously operating said plunger and rakes, whereby the wool is fed into mat form and prevented from packing throughout its length.

HARRY S. DRUM. ALFRED HOPKINS. 

